Death Before Dawn

by Amelia Hutchins

  It didn’t take too much reasoning power to determine that this was the ‘Clarkston Army’ and they’d taken over a lot of towns; however, the town below me was definitely their home base. From what I could see of it, most of the town had probably been abandoned long before the spread of the virus. The town was large, larger than I had figured they would have been able to add on to with the limited supplies available these days. Maybe there was some sort of lumber yard or ‘Building Supplies R Us’ nearby. One thing that stood out as strange to me, were the boxes of canned food, sitting just inches from the gates…As if they were daring someone to try to take it.

  From my vantage point, not only could I see the barely-disguised men with guns patrolling the town, I could also see cages of people. It turned my stomach, watching when people were removed from the cages and taken into the main building in the center of the town.

  Right in front of the main building was a platform, one that had probably been used in the past for town officials, which had been turned into a different kind of spectacle these days. In the center of the platform, they’d built some kind of medieval device that currently had a vampire tied to a wooden post. As I watched, some sort of butcher was hacking slices of flesh from the vampire’s thigh, much to the cheers of the sick and twisted crowd.

  How they’d known they were vampires before their initial ambush was beyond me, but Jolene hadn’t given anything away in her act. She’d been good; I’d give her that. I knew something was wrong and off about her from the beginning, but even in my wildest imaginings, I couldn’t even think that she was bait for something like this.

  A shout of agony ripped through the air, and my eyes slowly swept through the town, finding the source. Another vampire was being brought to the stage, and my stomach dropped as Raphael’s proud form stumbled.

  Holy water; they’d put it in the town’s well, and had given it to the women who fed the vampires. In essence, poisoning them to a weakened state. Jaeden had always described vampirism as more of a virus, so the concept of holy water being a problem for them didn’t make sense to me. Perhaps it was more of a reaction to the bacteria in the water than any kind of mystic holy properties that the water had, unless there really were supernatural properties to the virus that caused vampirism. After all, silver was an anti-microbial, so I could understand why the vampires and wolves were so allergic to it; so holy water having bacteria in it that could make them sick made perfect sense to me, and I would rather think it was bacteria that took them down rather than some holy hocus pocus.

  Either way, it seemed to disorient the vampires, and the townspeople had taken measures for when the vampires snapped out of it by chaining them. Raphael struggled back to his feet as some asshole kicked him in the stomach, and he lunged, ripping the guy apart with his fangs as he took the asshole to the ground with his body weight alone. It looked like the vampires didn’t need their hands to do serious damage. I watched with cold detachment as someone fired a shot at Raphael, making his body jerk with pain, and four more men crowded in to subdue him with the butts of their rifles.

  My hands trembled with the need to kill them all. They weren’t human; they were monsters. They shot and beat him while I had to sit on my hands, doing nothing. I needed a plan, and I couldn’t just go in guns blazing, because they were armed to the teeth.

  My father was right; when the government fell, the worst of humanity had crawled out from the shadows and taken over. The army I watched wasn’t one who brought hope to the survivors; no, it was one who brought death and destruction and served it up piping hot.

  I shimmied down the tree so I could head over to a different site that I had found for surveying the town, carefully avoiding leaving any clues that could give me away. Before I could make it more than a few feet, something grabbed me and I swung at it, connecting with flesh to the blow of my small fist.

  “Ouch, Lass,” Lachlan groaned, and I gasped before I threw myself into his arms.

  “Lachlan,” I whispered as I started rambling on about what had happened, and where Jaeden was, with the enemies.

  “Oh aye, why ya ken I came back?” he whispered against my ear, making no move to release me. “Caught up tae another pack ‘o wolves, said some crazy mon was leading a blasted army ‘o cannibals. Figured I’d get back here, Cian dinna agree, but he came around.”

  “They have Raphael on stage, getting ready to carve him up like the others,” I whispered past the lump in my throat.

  “Last I heard, Jaeden stabbed ye, lass.” Lachlan’s tone promised retribution for that.

  “I pulled away from him and his girls. That one is on Shamus, not Jaeden,” I whispered as I moved back to get a better look at Lachlan. He looked starved, but other than that, he looked well. “And you?”

  “Sore, but alive.”

  “That’s good news; I have to figure out how to get them out of Hells-ville, and I don’t think you can help,” I said.

  “Nae, don’t ye be kenning that ye are going in there, Emma, no fucking way, lass,” he barked, his eyes wide as he shook his head.

  “They are using silver bullets, Lach, they’re the ones who shot you—and worse, they are eating humans, and now vampires!” I growled. “I’m killing them, all of them. They have to be stopped. We need a plan, or something. I can’t let them do this to anyone else.”

  “The woman in the woods, the poor wee lass was their victim?” he asked.

  “Those assholes were probably part of this group, maybe a hunting party. By the way, how did you know about that?” I asked, shocked since he’d been away from me.

  “Ye were nae alone, Emma, I would nae allow it, ya ken it. I promised Addy I’d bring ye home tae her in one piece, I plan tae keep my word.”

  “I could have used your watcher’s help a couple of times over the past few days. Besides that, you could have told me, or hell, let me know,” I griped. I hadn’t even known they’d followed me. Was anyone not following me?

  “Hard tae do in my other form, Emma, but ye should’ve kenned better, aye?” he laughed as he hugged me again. “I should have been here sooner, but we been aboot the woods, listening. I may nae be able tae help ye oot, but I can create a diversion.”

  “I’m listening,” I smiled.

  “Ye still can nae do this alone,” he argued.

  “Lachlan, I’d rather die fighting than leave Jaeden and some of the others to be gnawed on,” I argued.

  “Ye are a stubborn thing, ye ken that, right?”

  “I do, but I have grenades, and I’m pretty badass when under stress, which, if I do this right, my powers should kick in.” I hoped. There was no guarantee that they would even work. Other than the better hearing, advanced eyesight, and other sensory things, no other power had worked lately. Not even when I’d fought Jaeden. I’d done nothing but yank myself away from him, impaling myself on a sharp branch. Yeah, my self-confidence was shit.

  “What’s your plan?” he asked as his eyes seemed to be inspecting me, taking inventory, looking for wounds. I was beginning to get used to it. Between him and Jaeden, I was constantly being checked for wounds or weaknesses.

  “There’s one way into the compound. It looks like a town to the casual eye, but they’ve set up barbwire and razor wire around it. The only way in is on the main street, and they’ve got guards on every rooftop. I’d need to look harmless, because if they think I’m there to get the vampires out, I’m dead or I’ll end up as dessert, which doesn’t seem to have a very long life expectancy, either, with those assholes. I figure if I walk in looking harmless, I can catch them off guard, throw some grenades, and take cover. I’ve scouted every position I could around the town that I could safely manage to. They set up car hoods on the inside of the front gates for cover. If I can get to them, I can take a defensive position.”

  “And when ye run oot of bullets, what then?” His ey
es filled with uncertainty. I knew he wouldn’t stop me; he was like me, and he’d go out fighting before he let someone he loved die in a horrible fashion as they intended to do with the vampires.

  “I’m hoping the adrenaline will kick in, my powers will come online, and I’ll be able to stop time. Once that happens,” I said. If it happened. “I’ll have the advantage. If not, I’m fucked. But I’m pretty sure my stalker wants me alive. He knows how to stop time, and I’m hoping he’s close enough to save me if I need it. So I go in with weapons hidden.” Betting on my stalker was really risky, considering he hadn’t shown when I was injured at the vampire camp, or in the cannibal camp. Either he wasn’t close by, or he didn’t feel I was in mortal danger in either situation. No matter what, counting on him was a huge gamble.

  “Ouch, nae, lass, ye need tae go find something sexy, ya ken? You get more of an advantage if they think with their cock before their brains. Best armor in the world for a woman is something sexy. Something short and provocative,” he said with a wide grin.

  “Uh, and just where the hell am I supposed to find that?” I asked, and watched as a smile spread across his face. “I just had to ask, didn’t I?”

  He laughed, pulling me to my feet. I followed him through the woods, and winced when a nightclub came into view. A freaking strip club? We were a good two miles from the camp, or town…whatever the Clarkston Army called their little encampment, I called it hell. How Lachlan knew this place was here was something I didn’t want to find out.

  I pushed the door open, and made my way slowly into the dark club, stiffening as the scent of stale and sour beer hit my nose. It reeked; half-empty glasses of beer that looked as if something was growing in them littered the top of the bar and most of the tables. Towards the back was a door labeled ‘dancers’, which Lachlan had headed for. Once we entered the room, he pulled open a curtain, allowing light in. I turned in a small circle, saying a silent thank you that there were no dead bodies.

  “Look at this,” he said, holding up a pair of thong panties.

  “Not wearing anyone else’s underwear, eww,” I stated with a cringe.

  He laughed and shrugged, tossing them back to the little vanity. Next, he held up a small, barely-there schoolgirl miniskirt and eyed me. I grabbed it, held it around my waist and tried to hand it back to him.

  “It will fit, Emma, without the pants and holsters with guns in your waistband,” he said with a soft frown. “It’s sexy, and I’m nae thinking that they would be wishing ye dead in that thing. Nae, they’d be tae busy wishing other things.”

  “I need my weapons,” I argued.

  “Ye do, but ye can hide them in your new pack,” he said as he held up a pink Hello Kitty backpack that made my eyes bug out. “You’ll be tae cute and sexy tae be suspect, lass,” he chuckled at my death stare as his eyes searched through the room until he found a small black tank top that opened on both sides and was split open. Next, he grabbed a few items from the vanity and wiggled his finger for me to turn around so he could push them into my bag. “And a mirror, because I can nae do make-up, lass,” he commented, pushing more shit into my pack. “Okay, let’s go see what the lads found.”

  Several hours later I was dressed in thigh highs that were thicker than normal nylons, which would be held up with skull and cross bone garters once I figured out how they worked. The skirt exposed the globes of my bottom, and I’d slipped my boots back on. They held more daggers, which I would need. I’d pulled on the top Lachlan had brought, and fitted it with a black bra. I touched my shorter hair, wishing it was long enough to hide this outfit.

  “Damn,” Cian whispered, his eyes hot with unbridled lust as he took me in. “That will do the job, Emma. Who knew this was hiding behind all that camouflage?”

  “Ha-ha,” I sniped, not laughing as my nerves began to get the better of me.

  “Lass, you look…you look tae good tae send tae those monsters,” Lachlan groaned, his eyes slowly moving down the length of me to my boots, as a smile curved his lips. “Heels might be better.”

  “Heels would be better for them, not me. I’d break my neck trying to fight in heels,” I mumbled as I fumbled with the attachment from the nylon to the skirt. How strippers managed this, I didn’t know, but kudos to them, because I was having a hell of a time even trying to figure out how everything attached correctly.

  “Let me,” Lachlan offered. His hands trembled as he skimmed my flesh with his fingers. “They attach by slipping the nylon onto the metal, and closing it, like this.” He hooked the nylon into the loop and locked it down before he pressed a soft kiss to the back of my leg, sending a tremor through me. “In another life, sweet lass,” he mumbled as he stood up and looked down at me. “You’d have been mine.”

  “In another life, you’d still chase after anything that would give up and bend over for you, wolf.”

  “Ahh, but the lass who catches the wolf’s heart, she has it always,” he murmured as he pressed another kiss to my ear. “Until we mark our life-mate, our nature is to rut, to mate with any who can carry our seed.”

  “And mine isn’t,” I replied, placing my hand to his cheek and meeting his green eyes. “Which is why you and I would never work out.” I tapped his cheek softly. “We do, however, work well as a team, my wolf, so let’s do this. Soon it will be too dark for this outfit to cause much of a stir.”

  “Emma, if ye can nae save them…” Lachlan started, but I shushed him.

  “I’m saving them. There’s no ‘or else’ scenario where I walk away without them,” I ground out as I pulled on my pack, and tested how easily I could draw the guns when the need arose. I grabbed two grenades and held them in my hands as I looked at the wolves. “If this goes badly, you go back to the Ark. Promise me. Addy will need you. You won’t be able to save me, and I am pretty sure that Sentinel will come for me and finish whatever it is that he’s planning to do. If he comes before I can get the vamps free, you finish these assholes. All of them. They can’t live.”

  “Did he come tae you again?” he asked, and I gave him a quick and dirty rundown of what had happened in his absence. He whistled beneath his breath and shook his head.

  “He called you his mate?” Cian asked.

  “He did, but I have no idea what the hell it means. He invaded the camp and left dozens of roses on me while I was sleeping, his way of showing me that he could get to me at any time and at any place. Whatever happens, he’ll probably show up, and if he takes me, I’ll figure out a way to get away from him. So I have no intention of dying in that town if I can’t get them out.”

  “Good tae ken, but do nae expect me tae sit here if ye are in trouble, Emma,” Lachlan argued.

  I turned to Cian, who nodded, knowing that if it came to it, he’d make sure Lachlan didn’t die trying to save me. I started my long trek to the town, alone.

  “Emma, be careful, lass,” Cian said, his eyes smiling as he took in the ridiculous outfit.

  “Thank you.” I turned to give him a smile, only to catch his eyes on my ass. “Eyes on the prize, wolf,” I laughed, but he didn’t look away.

  I started walking faster, hating the fact that I had no real plan, other than gain access and start chaos, which should give me enough of an adrenaline rush to kick my Sentinel powers into gear. It was suicide, and I could already feel my heart beginning to hammer as the adrenaline surged through my veins. No matter what had happened between me and Jaeden, he and the others didn’t deserve what these sick assholes were doing.

  “Don’t do this, Emma,” the voice whispered in my head urgently.

  “Come and get me, Asshole.” I almost felt triumphant; he was close, so this crazy-ass plan might just work.

  “I said stop!” he ordered, but I ignored him with a slight twist of my lips and a quick mental shake. I walked closer to the main entrance of the town, and I was now within view of
the soldiers who trained their guns on me.

  “Make me,” I taunted with a smile on my lips, and a sway to my hips that I shouldn’t be able to pull off, not with the current mission I was on, walking right into cannibal territory. Right towards certain death.

  Chapter 11

  The guards let me get closer than I thought I would get before they halted my progress a few yards away from the gate. They were armed to the teeth, and trained their guns on me. I smiled nervously; my arms were crossed behind my head, in each palm a grenade hidden, the rings threaded through my fingers decoratively and at the ready.

  “Don’t shoot her,” a man warned, his eyes on the tiny skirt I wore, and the thigh highs that made me appear sexier and less threatening. “Fuck me, look at the legs on her,” he crooned, moving closer, his beady eyes feasting on the thin wisp of material that kept him from seeing the panties I wore. “Get Jason, he’s going to want to ride this little bitch first.”

  “Keep your hands behind your head,” one of the other guards shouted, his nervousness showing in his tone. “Search the area and find out if she’s alone!” he yelled to another guard, who went rushing out of the gate to see if I was alone or if more people had come with me.

  I watched him run by me, his eyes darting to my breasts, and then trailing lower with a hungry look in his eyes. I turned, locating Jaeden up on the stage and slowly moved towards him. I was walking right into the enemy’s camp, past the point of no return.

  Turquoise eyes rose to mine, and then slowly, with a pained expression, he looked at my exposed body. Blood dripped from a multitude of wounds; huge chunks of flesh had already been carved from his body. Men with guns were moving into the main area, all of them looking me over with the same look a starving man would give a Thanksgiving dinner.

  “…And she walked right in willingly?” a big man was asking, and then stopped, looking me over with a covetous look. His brown hair was overly long, but he looked like he was once a prominent businessman, if I could gauge anything by his clean clothing and well-fed appearance. My stomach turned as to why he probably looked so well-fed. “Mine. I want her stripped first; make sure she’s not carrying weapons.”